


A Tender Heart

by Daeorus



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Birthday, Canon Compliant, Complete, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:46:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25866148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daeorus/pseuds/Daeorus
Summary: The day after the comet and still recovering from his injury at the hands of his sister, Zuko goes for a walk late at night and discovers another one of his friends can’t sleep.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 175





	A Tender Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Please let me know if there are any typos, I am my own proofreader.

Zuko had listened to Katara as best he could. He’d stayed in his bed that evening, after he beat Azula and took a direct blast of lightning in the process. Sure, she’d healed him, but she’d emphasized that it’d be a process. He wouldn’t be back to himself right away. As he recovered he should try and rest. Stay in bed. 

That first night he’d passed out the moment his head hit his pillow. With the help of Aang and his friends the following day, he was able to reinstate most of the staff Azula had banished as well as send off official military orders for a cease-fire, all from the confines of his bed. He had simply worked from under the covers, propped up against the headboard. 

His official coronation was to be in a little over a week, enough time to free war captives and use the event as a marker of the end of the conflict. Official invites had been sent to each nation. Both the world and his people would know that the new Fire Lord was an agent of peace and harmony, not of war and conquest. 

They had gotten a lot done, but for some reason Zuko couldn’t sleep. He was jittery and restless. It hurt to move, but he had to stretch his legs. 

Walking in and of itself wasn’t too painful, but he quickly decided against trying to get on a shirt or robe. He doubted he’d be able to without assistance, and the summer air was warm enough that he shouldn’t grow cold. 

It was strange walking around at night. Surreal. 

The palace had minimal staff, many of whom had already left the caldera after their banishment and were still being tracked down and informed that they could return if they so wished. 

He had originally worried that the servants and guards wouldn’t respect his authority, or that they might even try and take his life in his weakened state, but it seemed as though his fears were unfounded. Apparently their brief period of employment under Azula had left them more than grateful for Zuko. Suki had also done a phenomenal job unearthing any who might remain fiercely loyal to Ozai. It was surprising what she could accomplish in a single day.

Zuko walked without real purpose, simply enjoying the warm summer breeze on his bare shoulders. He wasn’t surprised to find himself eventually walking through the courtyard, to the turtleduck pond. The pond was his favorite thinking spot; it reminded him of his mother. 

However, this time there was someone else there. The bald head immediately led Zuko to recognize Aang. He sat by the water at the base of the tree, folded tightly in on himself. He still wore the same tattered trousers he had fought Ozai in, despite Zuko offering him proper clothes all throughout the day. He also had a fire nation robe on, the only piece of clothing he grudgingly accepted after Katara had pointed out that he couldn’t easily justify walking around the Fire Nation palace shirtless, even if he was the Avatar. 

Zuko could tell something was wrong just from the one glance. The boy was pulled so tight he seemed even smaller than Toph. 

“Aang?”

His friend jumped and wiped his face quickly before turning and giving Zuko a forced smile.

“Oh! Um, hey,” he said lamely, “I uh, I didn’t think you’d be awake.”

Zuko walked over to him, “I couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d come see the turtleducks.” He pointed at the ground beside Aang, “can I join you?”

Aang nodded and scooted over.

Zuko slowly lowered himself to the ground, using the tree as support. After a few grunts of discomfort, he too was sitting at the banks of the pond. 

He looked at his friend to his left. Aang’s eyes were puffy. He’d been crying. Between his fingers was something small. It looked like a small strip of tattered yellow fabric. He gazed out at the pond and the sleeping turtleducks. 

Zuko turned and looked out at the pond as well. The water reflected the starlight above them, the moon bathing the whole place in a cool light. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked after a minute, “if not that’s fine.”

Aang shook his head slightly, “it’s okay. I’m just... sad.”

Zuko smiled softly, “you don’t have to be sad alone, you know that, right?”

Aang nodded but said nothing. 

The two were silent for a few minutes. Zuko found it peaceful in a way, as opposed to a forced silence filled with unvoiced thoughts. Still, he couldn’t help but worry about Aang. It was times like this he wished he was better with words. 

“You know,” he said after a while, “I never took you as someone who gets sad. Typically the dark and brooding one is me.”

Aang smiled lightly at that, much to Zuko’s relief. “Everyone gets sad.”

“What’s in your hand there?” He asked, even though he knew he shouldn’t pry. There was something just so... wrong about seeing Aang like this. 

He held up the small strip of yellow fabric for a moment before returning it to his lap, “it’s just some cloth from my old shirt,” he said softly, “I guess it’s just trash now.” He ran his thumb over it slowly, as if feeling every thread. 

It dawned on Zuko then, “that was the last thing you had from back then, wasn’t it?”

Aang choked back a sob before it all just broke lose. He curled tightly into himself, becoming nothing but a small crimson ball in his fire nation robe. 

Zuko didn’t know what to do. He lifted his hand for a moment, then slowly placed it on Aang’s upper back. He made small circles, like his mother would do when she would comfort him. 

“I just miss them. I miss them all.” He heard Aang say, muffled from his sobs and his buried face. “And now,” he choked back another sob, “Now i-it’s like they’re gone for r-real.”

He’d never seen Aang like this. He was hysterical. His crying shook his entire body and his breaths came as gasps between the tears. 

Zuko continued to rub his back, unsure of what to do or say.

They sat like that for another few minutes as Aang’s tears subsided, having cried himself dry. Eventually, he lifted his head just enough to gaze out at the pond again. 

“I’m sorry Zuko,” he finally said, his voice barely more than a whisper, “you don’t deserve to have to deal with me when I’m like this.”

Zuko shook his head as he scooted closer to Aang. He placed his arm around Aang’s small shoulders, pulling him close.

“Do you want to know a secret?” He asked. 

Aang raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t pull away. 

“You’re my best friend.”

Aang looked at him confused, “I always thought you got along better with Sokka than me.”

“Aang, I may be hard on you when we train, and I may get annoyed when you call me sifu hotman.”

Aang smiled at that, but the mirth was short-lived.

“All that aside, you’re honestly one of my favorite people in the world. Every moment I spend with you, even if it’s stuck in an ancient sun-warrior temple, I-“ Zuko could feel himself losing steam, but refused to give up on his words, “I find myself amazed.”

Aang looked at him confused.

“Everything you’ve been through, everything that’s been placed on your shoulders, and yet you’re still you! You’re still a happy and goofy kid who does everything in his power to make the world a better place. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt down, then you came along and helped me pull up and out of it, even if you didn’t realize you were doing it.”

He smiled softly at Aang, pulling him closer in his side-hug, regardless of the flare of pain it caused in his chest. 

“Now I realize something that makes me sad,” continued Zuko, “I always thought you were happy almost all the time, but now I realize you’ve been hurting quietly and in private and I feel stupid for not realizing.”

He locked eyes with Aang, “I can’t undo what the Fire Nation took from you, took from the world. But I can be here for you, okay?”

“I-I just don’t want to inconvenience anyone.” Said Aang in a small voice, breaking the eye contact, “just because I’m sad doesn’t mean I need to make others sad too.”

“Aang, look at me.”

Aang slowly turned to look Zuko in the eyes once more.

“Your feelings aren’t an inconvenience, just like how my feelings weren’t an inconvenience for my uncle. I care about you. Part of that is being there for each other. It’s not fair if you share everyone’s burden but don’t let others share yours.”

Aang nodded solemnly. 

“It shouldn’t have made me as sad as it did I guess. I mean, we lost Appa’s saddle, my old glider I destroyed in a volcano by choice.”

Zuko figured it’d be better not to ask for clarification on that one. 

“But for some reason, having the parts of my old air nomad clothes get destroyed when I fought Ozai, i-it seems more, I don’t know... final?”

“It was the last thing you had. Other than Appa and Momo.”

He nodded, “it’s just like they’re... they’re really gone now.”

Aang rubbed his eyes again, even though his tears had long since ran dry, “I’m sorry. I think I’m extra emotional right now too cuz my chakra got released during that fight. Beyond my back being a bit tender, I’ve kinda felt emotionally all over the place today. Though I suppose it doesn’t help what day it is either.”

Aang tensed as he said that, having let something he hadn’t intended to say slip through his guard.

“What was so special about today?”

Aang ran his fingers over the fabric, studying it and all its minute details.

“It’s my birthday,” he said quietly, “or... I guess it was my birthday. I don’t know how late it is now.”

Zuko felt like an idiot. 

Why hadn’t he registered that!? To be fair, he couldn’t recall a single time since he joined forces with Aang where he mentioned when he was born, but why would he? It was the day after the comet! 

Now that he thought of it, they had celebrated The Duke’s birthday at the air temple, and the snide comments by Toph made it sound like she had endured a birthday celebration of her own at the hands of Sokka the master party-planner. He’d always assumed that Aang’s birthday was sometime in the fall. 

“Do the others know?” It was all he could think to ask, although he already knew the answer. 

Aang shook his head, “it just... it didn’t seem like the right time. There’s so much we had to do. So much we still have to do.”

Zuko shook his head, “Aang, you deserve it. More than anyone else I know. If there’s one person who should get the chance to just relax and enjoy their birthday like a regular kid, it’s you.”

“But I’m not a regular kid.”

Aang’s words hung in the air. Zuko didn’t know how to respond to that. Not for the first time that evening, he wished his Uncle was there. He’d know exactly what to say, he always did. 

It took him a minute or two before he broke the silence.

“I finally met Bumi,” he began,” Apart from helping reclaim Ba Sing Se, he and Toph had a little earthbending challenge to see who was the best earthbender.”

That got a small smile out of Aang.

“We stopped it before it got too serious, but he is definitely an... interesting man.”

Aang laughed at that, “he was just as crazy as a kid.”

“You once mentioned a fire nation friend to me, what was his name again?”

Aang smiled again, “Kuzon,” he remained looking at the fabric, “I never got to tell him that I was the Avatar. Same with Bumi for that matter. Only difference is that I have no clue what happened to Kuzon.” Aang was silent with his thoughts for a moment, “He was a few months older than me. I remember how excited he was for each of his birthdays because he’d get to hold it over my head till my birthday came around.” Aang’s smile held sadness, “I can only imagine how smug he would’ve been turning thirteen before me. Officially able to call himself a teenager.”

“What did you used to do for your birthdays?” Zuko figured it was better to keep Aang talking. At least he wasn’t fighting back tears anymore.

“It was never all that big. Gyatso and I would always make fruit pies together. Of course, my other friends and I would celebrate as soon as I got the chance to see them. Bumi once gave me a really weird hat that he had earthbent. Though to be honest it was a bit too heavy to wear. Then there were the other kids at the air temple...”

His voice trailed off, and the two sat in silence once more. 

“How about this,” said Zuko, eager to keep Aang from slipping back into his internalized pain. He struggled to try and stand up, to which Aang quickly got to his feet with a burst of air to help guide Zuko safely back to standing.

“I’m so sorry! I’ve been complaining this whole time and I completely forgot that you’re hurt! Let’s get you back to bed.”

As soon as he was standing, Zuko dismissed that idea with a wave of his hand, “I’m fine. If I have to lay in that bed for another minute I think I’m going to lose it.”

Aang looked at him skeptically. 

“As I was saying, how about we go to the kitchens and you teach me how to make a fruit pie? I can’t promise I’ll be as good as Gyatso, but I’m willing to learn.”

Aang looked at him with watery eyes, and he was worried that he might have said something to upset him again.

Instead, Aang simply wiped his eyes and smiled, “I’d like that a lot.”

Zuko led him through the courtyard and toward the kitchen. 

“Also, I know the old Fire Lords collected things from the other nations. Maybe we can find some airbender robes for you? Have them tailored to fit? That way you can properly represent your people at my coronation.”

This time Aang wasn’t able to hold back his sob, and he embraced Zuko, his head pushing against Zuko’s sore chest. 

He gave an involuntary wince of pain, which caused Aang to release him and look at him horrified.

“Oh no, I’m sorry! I-“

Zuko pulled him back into a hug before Aang could start beating himself up.

He felt Aang crying into him, whatever self-control he’d been holding over his emotions finally broken. The pain of Zuko’s tender chest flared, but he didn’t care about that. He simply held his best friend as he cried, resting his cheek atop the younger teen’s bald head. 

After his tears subsided once again, he felt Aang begin to pull away. He let him go. 

“So...” began Aang, “y-you still interested in learning how to make a fruit pie?”

Zuko smiled, “absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this little story! Please comment with your thoughts, and if you like this piece feel free to check out my other Avatar piece, which is a completed series.
> 
> Comments really make my day, so don’t hesitate to post them!


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